Artificial tooth



(N0 Modl.

- v D. GENESE.

ARTIFICIAL TOOTH. No. 371,054. Patented Oct. 4, 1887.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID GENESE, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

ARTlFlClAL TOOTH.

$PECIFICAI'ION forming part of Letters Patent No. 371,054, dated October 4, 1887.

Application filed April-4, 1887. Serial X0. 233,070. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DAVID GENESE, a sub ject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture of Artificial Teeth, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the manufacture of artificial teeth and the manner of attaching them to the dentures .npon which they are mounted, whether the same be rubber, celluloid, or mineral plate dentures.

It is the purpose of my invention to improve the construction of porcelain teeth in such manner that the usual platinum pins by which a connection is made with the dentures may be entirely dispensed with, a connection effected by means of the rubber or other material from which the plateis constructed giving a tenacious, strong, and durable attachment, adding materially to the beauty of the work, avoiding-the crackingand splitting oftheteeth, so frequently experienced in the use of the ordinary metallic pin attachment, and giving a solid foundation or base for the support of the tooth on the'plate, no space being left for food or secretions to enter between the teeth or be tween the latter and the pins.

My invention consists in the several novel features of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter fully set forth, and definitely pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a sectional view of a portion of the denture, showing one form in which my invention is applied. Fig. 2 is a detail view of two forms of tooth, a short-bite and long-bite tooth, respectively, showing the form of construction. Fig. 3 is a detail view of a modified construction. Fig. 4 is a detail view of a slight modification of the construction shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a partial perspective of Fig. 1, showing the seat for a tooth which has been broken from the rubber.

In the said drawings, the reference-numeral 1 denotes the denture, constructed of rubber, celluloid, or other material. Heretofore the teeth have been mounted upon and connected to said dentures by means of pins, usually made ofplatinum or other non-oxidating metal, a portion of said pin being buried in the porfracture through the crown.

celain of the tooth and a part projecting from the tooth being embedded in the rubber of the denture. Experience has shown, however, that where metal and porcelain, are used in combination there is no union between the two, and when the teeth are mounted the metallic pins act as so many fulcrnm-points at the weakest portion of the tooth, causing frequent I construct the teeth, therefore, with apertures 2, formed at an angle and meeting or intersecting in the center of the thickest portion of the face of the tooth. These apertures or orifices both extend longitudinally in the tooth-tl1at is, in the direction of the length of the tooth-and their lower meeting portions are withinthe tooth. The angle at which these apertures lie relatively to each other is preferably an obtuse angle, but may be varied as deemed necessary without departing from my invention. WVhen placed in the mold and in screwing up the flask, the crown of the tooth presents practically a flat surface without grooves, and the diverging cavities permit the rubber of the denture to enter and unite within the body'of the tooth, forming a strong, tenacious, and permanently durable fastening. 'This method of mounting also gives a comparatively large surface contact between the tooth and the rubber without leverage, as shown in Fig. 5, which represents a portion of the denture from which a tooth has been removed.

It has been found in practice that the rubber when vulcanized will shrink away from the metallic pins, and this introduces an element of trouble, especially in the case of shortbite teeth, as in the process of mastication a continued movement of the tooth takesplace, and sooner or later it breaks off. This difli' culty is wholly avoided by my invention, since the contraction of the rubber in the diverging cavities of the teeth adds to the strength of the attachment by drawing the tooth and the denture closer together, and insuring its solid foundation on the rubber, at the same time leaving no space for the food to enter between the teeth and plate. By thisconstruction, also, a larger surface of mineral can be used in mounting a denture where the articulation is very close, and adding to the beauty of appearance, since the surface of the tooth does notn'eedgrinding to enable the dentisttomount it. It also enables a full denture to be made of mineral teeth, which would otherwise have to be constructed of rubber.

In combination with the diverging grooves 2, running into the labial portion of the tooth, a groove, 3, maybe carried in horseshoe form from aperture to aperture, as shown in Fig. 3; or the groove may be formed outside thelingual border of the tooth, as represented at 4, Fig. 4. These forms of construction give the strongest possible attachment to a rubber or celluloid base in the case of long-bite teeth where the leverage is very great, making the denture one compact mass without openings for the secretions of the mouth to enter between the porcelain and the rubber.

Having thus described my invention, whatI claim is-- 1. An artificial tooth having two converging orifices, both extending from the crown in the direction of the length of the tooth and intersecting and communicating at the thickest part of the tooth, whereby the material of the denture will meet and join at the intersecting ends of the orifices, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a denture of rubher or other plastic material, of an artificial tooth having two orifices, both extending in the direction of the length of the tooth and converging from the crown, said orifices interseating and communicating at the thickest part of the tooth, and the material of the denture engaging the orifices and joined at the intersecting ends of the latter, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

D. GENESE. \Vitnesses:

G. EVETT REARDON, T. BEALMEAR. 

